Description:

EERO SAARINEN FOR KNOLL WOMB CHAIR AND OTTOMAN
Red upholstered on chrome frame. This particular chair and ottoman appeared on pages 70-71 of the 2003 March/April issue of Decorating magazine, Better Homes and Gardens publication.

Designer Bio: Eero Saarinen was born August 20, 1910 in Kirkkonummi, Finland to Eliel Saarinen, a successful Finnish architect. When Eero was thirteen, his family immigrated to the United States. He took sculpture and furniture design classes at Cranbrook Academy of Art, where his father taught and acted as Dean. It was here that he established close relationships with fellow students Charles and Ray Eames, and also became a close acquaintance of Florence Knoll. He also studied sculpture at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, and then went on to finish his studies at the Yale School of Architecture in 1934. He toured Europe for two years following his education, and returned in 1936 to work at his father's architectural practice.

Saarinen first received recognition with the design of the "Tulip Chair" which he created with Charles Eames. They received first prize for their design. Like all other Saarinen chairs, the Tulip Chair went in to production by the Knoll furniture company. During his extensive partnership with Knoll, he designed many important pieces of furniture including The Grasshopper lounge chair, the Womb chair, and the Tulip furniture group. He worked for the Office of Strategic Services (now known as the CIA) until 1944, illustrating bomb disassembly diagrams. In 1948, he won first prize in a competition with his design of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. He helped design portions of several airports including the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, And the Athens Airport in Greece. He designed the headquarters of many major corporations including CBS, John Deere, and IBM. In the 1950s, he began to receive quite a few commissions from prestigious American universities to design their dormitories or individual buildings. This included commissions from Yale, MIT, and the University of Chicago Law School, and others. He also designed the United States embassies in London and Oslo.

Saarinen received much recognition for his illustrious career, being elected as a fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1952. In 1962, Saarinen was posthumously awarded a gold medal by them. He received two first prizes by the Museum of Modern Art with Charles Eames, during a furniture design competition in New York in 1940. In 1954, he was elected a member of of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.

Eero Saarinen passed away on September 1, 1961 at the age of 51 while undergoing an operation for a brain tumor. Most of his archives were donated to Yale university. In 2006-2010, the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York organized a traveling exhibit of his work, Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future. Yale, the National Building Museum, and the Museum of Finnish Architecture collaborated on this exhibition that toured all over the United States and Europe.

Sources: https://www.theartstory.org/artist/saarinen-eero/, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eero-Saarinen

Manufacture Info: Knoll, Inc. was founded in 1938 by Hans Knoll. They began production in New York City, but moved to Pennsylvania in 1950. His wife, Florence Knoll, took over as head of the company in 1955, following Hans death. They manufacture high-end home furniture created by famous designers such as Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, and Maya Lin. Over 40 Knoll productions are held in the permanent design collection at the MOMA in New York City.

Knoll also produces furniture for office settings and higher education establishments. In 2011, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum awarded Knoll with the National Design Award for Corporate and Institutional Achievement. In April of 2021, Herman Miller acquired Knoll.

Sources: https://www.knoll.com/discover-knoll/our-story


Chair: 36" height; seat: 16" height, 41" width

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May 27, 2022 10:00 AM CDT
St. Louis, MO, US

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $29 $5
$30 $99 $10
$100 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $29,999 $1,000
$30,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $299,999 $10,000
$300,000 $499,999 $25,000
$500,000 + $50,000